Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to get jobs and propel your career

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tellmecovercorrect“So, tell me about yourself?”

Is that not the most obvious interview question? The one that every job seeker should anticipate and prepare to answer? Unfortunately, it may seem so obvious, many don’t spend the time they should focusing on how to answer it.

In fact, most aspects of the job search rely on being able to tell your own story.

  • Networking (the all important elevator pitch)
  • Your resume – connecting your accomplishments with the employer’s needs
  • Cover letter – another opportunity to sell your skills to a targeted employer
  • Portfolios – online opportunities to connect with people
  • Interviews – sealing the deal
  • On the job – to connect and advance

I highly recommend that job seekers take a look at Katharine Hansen’s new book, Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career.

Her book is organized into several sections:

  • Part I – Career propelling story basics
  • Part II – Using storytelling in your job search
  • Part III – Continuous storytelling

Katharine explains how stories can help you get a job by demonstrating your personality, helping to make you memorable and establishing trust. People who know how to tell good stories can communicate their value proposition, which is key for job seekers and careerists.

This book helps you with every aspect of telling your story – from figuring out what the story should be through tips for how to recall stories stored in your brain! (For example, give your stories names.) It is full of samples of stories and many, many ideas that are critically useful for job seekers and all professionals.

If you’re engaged in a job search – or maybe you should be – don’t miss this great resource!

UPDATED ON 6/21/11:

Could you use some help to come up with your story AND to learn how to tell it well in networking, interview and social networking situations? What about your resume? Does it tell your story and tell it well? I can help. If you’re ready to hire a pro to help you move ahead with your plans, contact me to find out how you can boost your job search – both online and off line. Check out my new book, Social Networking for Career Success, to learn how to tell your story in a way that can get you noticed.

Cracking the networking CODE by Dean Lindsay

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crackingdean_3625x5_ad2b1I can’t seem to talk enough about networking. Maybe it’s because most jobs are found via networking and job seekers MUST empower themselves with good information and techniques (in addition to great job search materials) in order to successfully land a targeted position.

Most of my clients ask, “How can I network well? What steps should I take?” Dean Lindsay’s book: A Progress Agent’s Guide to Cracking the Networking Code – 4 steps to Priceless Business Relationships, offers a lot of terrific ideas for all job seekers and careerists, as well as entrepreneurs and anyone hoping to succeed in business.

I love acronyms…(what would we do without STAR and PAR stories for interviewing?) The title of Dean’s book incorporates a crucial acronym.

CODE stands for:

C: Create Personal Curb Appeal
Effective networkers feel successful and display a genuine desire to help others progress. They look and act the part of someone with whom you would want to have in your corner.

O: Open Face-to-Face Relationships
Effective networkers research the various networking options and commit to a networking strategy. They get out and about and reach out. They open relationships.

D: Deliver Solid First Impressions
Effective networkers know the first impression sets the foundation for all future impressions and make sure it is a good one.

E: Earn Trust
Effective networkers follow-up and keep in touch. They stay involved with the people they meet and earn their trust through a series of progress based impressions. They continually find ways to help. This is where most ineffective networkers drop the ball.

Dean acknowledges most peoples’ perceptions of networking as something manipulative or excessively self-serving. He goes on to explain how those are misperceptions of networking – and convinces the reader that networking is about relationship building.

His assertion that people we meet should ideally view us as offering “progress, not change” is an interesting and perceptive point! Let’s face it, when we hope to engage in a relationship with someone, most of the time we aren’t looking to make a change in our lives. Dean notes, “It is natural to resist change but we embrace progress (p. 26).” If you “genuinely want to understand and help fulfill the needs of others,” a key factor for networking success, Dean offers a step-by-step guide to help readers “Be progress.”

I love the messages in this book: “Don’t make networking more complicated than it needs to be (p. 47).” “You make a much more powerful impression, a much more memorable impression being interested in others rather than trying to be interesting to others” (p. 95).”

But Dean doesn’t just offer quotes and platitudes – he shows readers what they can do to become successful at networking. If you’ve been uncomfortable or hesitant in your in-person networking, this is a great book to give your plans a jump start. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I have!

It’s your lucky day…Dean is giving away several copies of his book to my readers. All you need to do is share a brief comment or story below about networking. Do you have a success story? Or, tell us what makes networking difficult for you. At the end of the week, I’ll randomly choose several winners. (Be sure to give a correct email address so I can notify you.) Feel free to enter at each of my blogs to increase your chances of winning:

Examiner

GreatPlaceJobs

Secrets of the Job Hunt

Need more help to get your job search running? Contact me for advice and coaching to get your career in gear!

What to do if you lose your job

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bridge371177532_46fc1c5cc3_mToday, I’m happy to share another guest post from my business partner, Hallie Crawford. Do you know you need a career change, but you aren’t sure what path to take? Hallie specializes in helping recent college grads and boomerangs identify their ideal career paths and make it happen.

By Hallie Crawford

If you’re like me, you hate turning on the morning news these days because of all the doom and gloom with the economy. There’s no doubt about it. The world is a scary place right now. And for many of us, what is especially unnerving is the way the unemployment rate continues to rise.

If you are one of those fearful of losing your job – or if you have already joined the unemployment line – I urge you to maintain a positive attitude. Worrying won’t help and, in fact, may create even more problems.

Having been through the experience of not having a job, I’d like to offer some tips to help you through this unsettling time:

  1. Don’t panic. Fear and anxiety are natural, but if you allow these emotions to control your thinking, you won’t be able to make good decisions about what you’re going to do next.
  2. Surround yourself with optimistic, supportive people. Misery may love company, but this is not the time to commiserate. You need to remain focused, positive, and inspired.
  3. Create a job-hunting schedule. This is an extremely important step because it will keep your mind focused so you don’t get depressed. Immediately start looking into websites like CareerBuilder or Monster for an overview of what’s out there. Next, do some targeted searches specific to your industry on sites that cater to your area of expertise.
  4. Start networking. Networking is still the best way to get a job. Spread the word that you are in job search mode among your friends, family, former co-workers — anyone that you know who could help with your job search.  Dig up names from internships or summer jobs and reach out to those people. Join online networking groups (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.).
  5. Consider an interim job. It will get you out of the house, boost your morale, and offer some temporary financial assistance. Temporary agencies often have positions that can lead to permanent employment.
  6. Look at your situation as an opportunity. If you have ever felt unsatisfied or unfilled in your work, this could be the Universe nudging you to find the job you love!

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I’d suggest the first thing you do when you lose your job is to get some great career search advice. Save time and money – I can help you propel your search!

 

photo by rhys jones photography

You SHOULD be trying to find a job

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lemonade3216658902_5f786c4cc6_mGL Hoffman, author of the highly regarded blog, “What Would Dad Say,” contacted me to invite a reply to Seth Godin’s guest post on WWDS. In the post, Seth (the author of the most popular marketing blog in the world and 12 best-selling books) says that you shouldn’t try to get a job. His rationale:

There are a few reasons for this. The first is that the act of trying to get a job corrupts you. It pushes you to be average, to fit in and to do what you’re told.

The second is that this act moves the responsibility from you to that guy who didn’t hire you. It’s his fault. As soon as you start spending your day trying to please the guy, you’ve blown it.

The third is that the economy is terrible and the best jobs you’re going to get are lousy.

What does Seth suggest instead? Bon bons and a cruise on the Riviera? No. He says: Start a business. A tiny one.

Well, then.

This isn’t the first time I’ve disagreed with Seth. He caused a stir when he claimed that, if you are “remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular,” you don’t even need a resume. Certainly, there is a small percentage of the population who do not need a resume to land a job. You can probably come up with a set of names, the uber-business people and celebrities for whom opportunities come knocking. (I do agree that we should all aspire to develop a persona that will draw opportunities, but most people will still need a form of a resume for a job, even if it is a formality.)

For the same reason that “you don’t need a resume, you need to be remarkable” is advice that is suitable for a small percentage of the population, admonishing careerists that there are no good jobs and the only admirable thing to do is start a business similarly is good advice for a small percentage of the population.

The fact is, not everyone is well suited to being an entrepreneur. Brian O’Kane, author of Could You Be Your Own Boss says that research shows that successful entrepreneurs have:

  • Strong needs for control and independence
  • Drive and energy
  • Self-confidence
  • A point of view of money as a measure of performance
  • A tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainty
  • A sense of social responsibility

and that they are good at:

  • Problem-solving
  • Setting (and achieving) goals and targets
  • Calculated risk-taking
  • Committing themselves for the long term
  • Dealing with failure
  • Using feedback
  • Taking the initiative
  • Seeking personal responsibility
  • Tapping and using resources
  • Competing against self-imposed standards.

Personality type also comes into play. Small Business Entrepreneurs suggests that the “ideal” Myers-Briggs type indicator for an entrepreneur is ENTJ, but having that uncommon type is no guarantee of business success and happiness.

All of this by way of suggesting that some people, even if they are remarkable, may not be well suited to running their own businesses. I don’t think that someone who would prefer to let someone else manage the big picture (and, let’s be honest – the headaches that come from running a business) are corrupt or average – far from it. Knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is key to success in business and in life. If you know you are not suited to running a business, it’s the last thing you should try to do.

Finally, I must address Seth’s suggestion that there are no good jobs available and that being an employee is about spending your day trying to please someone else. Provocative, but preposterous!

There ARE organizations who value their employees and encourage independent thinking. Read profiles of this type of company HERE and read about GreatPlaceJobs to learn how to easily search for jobs with award-winning employers.

Do I think that some job seekers should pull out all the stops to start a small business? Absolutely. I have advised a number of my clients to pursue that path. It’s not for everyone, though, and if it’s not for you, consider yourself self-aware and astute, not average and corrupt!

Convinced that finding a job is for you? I can help! Even if you are ready to start a new business, you still need a strong resume and online presence. Contact me to learn how to achieve your dreams!

photo by crazyunclejoe

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New website offers salary information: Jobnob.com

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jobnob_logo

As a conclusion to my posts about negotiating your job offer, it is fitting to share a resource author Alexanda Levit recently mentioned on her blog, Water Cooler Wisdom. She writes:

Stanford MBA Julie Greenberg just launched a useful website called Jobnob.com that solves the dilemma faced by job hunters everywhere. Jobnob.com provides information about the salary of particular jobs offered by companies all over the US. By perusing the salary ranges and the current salaries being offered, job seekers have exactly what they need to negotiate the best price for a great salary with the company that they want to work for.

Jobnob.com can also be helpful when making the decision to adjust or change your career. If you’re a run-of-the-mill accountant, for instance, Jobnob.com will tell you that your average salary is $46,092. You could decide to become a tax accountant, who earns $50,301 on average, or an auditor, who earns $56,865 on average. Even better, maybe a finance manager position is in your future. These guys have similar skills and education as basic accountants, yet they get paid $72,376.

Consider adding this tool to your arsenal so you are prepared to negotiate well! It’s always great to have new resources to help gain the upper hand in negotiating and career planning!

Still looking for that perfect job? Contact me to learn how career coaching and a transformed resume can help!